At least 21 people were killed yesterday when a strong earthquake struck southwestern China, state media reported, as violent tremors in a remote region damaged homes and left some areas without electricity.
The magnitude 6.6 quake hit about 43km southeast of the city of Kangding in Sichuan Province at a depth of 10km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Fourteen people lost their lives in Sichuan’s Shimian County and seven died in nearby Luding County, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said.
Photo: AP / Xinhua
Tremors shook buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu — where millions are confined to their homes under a strict COVID-19 lockdown — and in the nearby megacity of Chongqing, local residents said.
At least one town had suffered “severe damage” from mountain landslides triggered by the quake, CCTV reported.
A road to another town was blocked and telecommunications lines in areas home to more than 10,000 people were severed, the broadcaster said, adding that shocks forced some power stations offline in the areas of Garze and Ya’an.
“I felt it quite strongly,” said Chen, a resident of Chengdu.
“Some of my neighbors on the ground floor said they felt it very noticeably,” she added. “But because Chengdu is currently under epidemic management, people aren’t allowed to leave their residential compounds, so many of them rushed out into their courtyards.”
A video posted online by the China Earthquake Networks Center showed boulders thundering down mountainsides in Luding County, kicking up clouds of dust as tremors swayed roadside telephone wires.
State media reported that several aftershocks were recorded in nearby areas. A smaller magnitude 4.6 tremor hit eastern Tibet less than an hour after the initial quake, the USGS said.
Hundreds of rescue personnel were dispatched to the epicenter while workers attempted to clear roads blocked by landslides, state broadcaster China Global Television Network said.
Photos published by state media showed officials in military fatigues heaving shovels and other equipment along a highway — all while wearing masks as a COVID-19 precaution.
A resident of Chongqing said the quake was “pretty noticeable” and that it had shaken the lights and furniture in his fifth-floor apartment.
“I was pretty scared, but it didn’t seem to faze people here,” he said.
The quake was Sichuan’s biggest since August 2017, when a magnitude 7.0 tremor hit Aba Prefecture.
The most powerful Sichuan earthquake on record was in May 2008, when a magnitude 8.0 quake centered in Wenchuan killed almost 70,000 people and caused extensive damage.
Yesterday’s quake was also felt in the provinces of Yunnan, Shaanxi and Guizhou hundreds of kilometers away, state media said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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